That's All
by CaveDwellers
Summary: Sapphire commands attention, demands respect, and absolutely refuses to take no for an answer. And, damn it all, it really grows on Ruby over the years. [oneshot, personality swap AU, also on AO3]


**A/N: Alright, so this fic is seven kinds of unorthodox. To start with, it's based off of Elasticity Mudflap's Rupphire personality-swapped AU that's been floating around tumblr these last few months. I'm also kind of late to the party, because nobody's really talked about it in a while, but I've always wondered how no-chill!Sapphire would go about trying to get meditating!Ruby's attention, especially at first. So that's the driving force behind the fic.**

 **This is also a songfic. Except it's not your average songfic. I took the song That's All by Genesis and broke up the lyrics. They are scattered throughout the fic and denoted by italics and limited punctuation. My intention was not to make the characters sing the song or listen to large chunks of it, apropos of nothing, but rather to integrate it with the narration. My intention was to use the lyrics for added poignancy.**

 **This is entirely new territory for me. I've never written a personality swapped fanfic, and while I've played around with songfic structures before I've never done it quite like this, so any and all feedback would be very much appreciated!**

* * *

 _Just as I thought it was going alright, I find out I'm wrong when I thought I was right_

Ruby is volatile. She knows that.

"Hey."

It's why she works so hard to keep herself calm and collected—it's the only responsible thing to do.

"Hey!"

She's gotten good at finding the balance between her strength and the searing heat of her element. Sure, it means a lot of her free time is spent in a meditative state, but Ruby much prefers working towards tranquility to the feeling of her projection volatilizing the moisture in the air around her.

"I SAID HI."

Did you know? Coming out of meditation too fast gives you the mental version of the bends. It's disorienting, and uncomfortable as hell.

"What?" Ruby barks. Her eyes snap open, and her mind is reeling from being ripped from her reverie. Almost instantly, the air around her begins to shimmer with heat.

Standing in front of her is a blue gem with one eye on proud display. She's also a corundum, though Ruby's never seen her around before. That's not actually saying much. Corundums are typically solo operators; they're not programmed to glean strength from numbers the way lower ranked gems are.

This particular corundum stands with her booted feet planted shoulder width apart and her arms akimbo. The dress she's wearing is based loosely upon the skirted uniform high military gems are permitted to use—except that particular uniform is designed to be floor-length, and this dress' hem is very pointedly just above the knee. The blue gem is bent at the waist so that she is almost eye-level with where Ruby is sitting cross-legged on the peaceful grassy knoll. She is also glaring.

When she feels the destructive blaze of Ruby's element, however, she flinches.

 _It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all_

"What," says Ruby in a much calmer voice. She's clamping down around herself, trying to stay serene. It takes a monumental force of will to tamp down the heat that is threatening to rise from her, but she's managing, slowly by surely. "Do you want?"

The blue gem's glare fades, and her single eye flicks conspicuously over Ruby's lotus position. When she meets Ruby's gaze again, she still says, "I just wanted to talk to you."

 _I could say day, and you'd say night_

It's about then that Ruby notices the chill that's emanating from the other gem. It isn't outright challenging her element, but isn't simply self-defense, either. She is meeting Ruby's volatility head on, unafraid.

The ice to her fire. A perfect foil.

 _Tell me it's black when I know that it's white_

"There's nothing to talk about," says Ruby. She gestures pointedly to her crossed legs. "I'm _meditating."_

"You're always meditating," the blue gem says, scowling. "I bet you don't even know my name."

Ruby stares. What does that have to do with anything?

Heat is starting to push out of her pores again. She's losing her concentration. Why won't this gem just go away? Doesn't she understand that Ruby's too dangerous for her to be here?

"It's Sapphire," she says—and with that, she turns on heel and stalks down the hill and out of earshot, her chin held high.

 _It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all_

Well, it should have been, but Sapphire doesn't stay gone long.

Ruby has just settled back into her meditative groove when she feels the reverberation of small feet pounding on the ground. She doesn't open her eyes, but she does notice when Sapphire stands in front of her again. It's pretty difficult to ignore a gaze that willful, but Ruby doesn't let on to how distracted she is. This is a private contest of wills, and Ruby has no intentions of losing.

The uncomfortable moment passes, of course. All things do.

 _I could leave, but I won't go_

It's just as Ruby begins to relax again, focusing on her breathing and matching the temperature of the air around her, that she hears the guttural shout.

Don't look, she tells herself. It'll just be adding fuel to her fire (or whatever an ice-elemental's equivalent of that is). There is no logical or practical purpose in that. Sapphire is going to get bored and wander off eventually. After all, that's how one-sided games always end.

 _Though my heart might tell me so_

Another shout. Ruby swears she feels something chilly _whoosh_ past her hair, but she can't be sure. It doesn't matter, anyway. None of these earthly distractions should matter to her in the least.

Actually, now that she's getting used to it there is a comforting quality in the white noise of whatever Sapphire's doing. There is a rhythm to her shouts, the _whooshes_ , and her ever-present stomping. She's doing something more substantial than looking for attention. It almost feels like she's running through forms and sets.

 _I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes_

"Oops."

Somehow, Ruby doesn't believe that Sapphire encasing her lower half in solid ice was an honest mistake. She lets out a long, slow breath through her nose and slowly—carefully—melts the cold around her just enough to climb out.

When her eyes open, Sapphire is waiting for them.

 _But why does it always seem to be me looking at you, you looking at me_

Ruby hasn't said anything, but Sapphire shrugs as if she has. "I'm training, and I missed my mark," she says glibly. "This knoll doesn't just belong to you, right?"

No, Ruby thinks. It's really not worth it—and besides, corundums aren't designed to fight amongst themselves. Even if she gave in to this blatant provocation, it wouldn't end well for either of them.

Ruby reaches up, tightens the knot on the ribbon around her hair and forehead, and walks away. She doesn't take the time to listen to whatever Sapphire shouts at her back. It doesn't matter.

 _It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all_

She'll just meditate somewhere else from now on.

 _Turning me on, turning me off_

They actually meet again the next day. Ruby has no idea how Sapphire's managed to find her—has no idea why the other corundum is choosing to share her presence at all—but those are indisputably her tiny feet stumping in Ruby's direction.

The worst part is, Ruby doesn't know whether or not to dread it. When was the last time someone actually put this kind of time into her?

 _Making me feel like I want too much_

"I saw that."

When Ruby doesn't answer or open her eyes, Sapphire stamps to a halt right in front of her. There is a puff of cool air as she squats down. Her gaze is, ironically enough, searing.

"I _know_ you know it's me," she says. Her voice is a growl, aggressive, daring Ruby not to react. Ruby swears she can feel a chill creep over the ground she's sitting on, crawling ever closer to her feet.

This isn't going to end until Ruby gives Sapphire what she wants, is it?

 _Living with you's just putting me through it all of the time_

When Ruby's eyes fly open, she's scowling like she hasn't in a while. Like she's never learned control over her self and her element at all.

And she tries so hard to make her voice come out level, but the traitorous thing wavers like she's on the verge of tears.

"What do you want?"

Sapphire smiles—and just like that, the chill surrounding them both is gone. In a rustle of short blue skirts, she is standing and holding her hand out for Ruby to grab. "Come with me."

She's not just offering her hand, Ruby realizes. She's offering her _gem_ , the entirety of her very self.

When was the last time anyone trusted Ruby with something so precious?

Before Ruby's rational mind can catch up to her, she is grabbing onto Sapphire's fingers allowing the blue corundum to haul her to her feet. For a gem with such a slender form, she possesses a surprising amount of strength.

The moment their projections touch, Sapphire's eye widens and a positively electric sensation zips down Ruby's spine.

"Wasn't expecting that," mutters Sapphire, and there's something oddly charming in the petulant way she juts her lower lip out about it.

For the first time in she doesn't even know how long, Ruby hears herself laugh.

 _Running around, staying out all night_

Sapphire moves so swiftly that Ruby has to jog to keep up. She also darts about in little bursts like she can't keep her attention locked on any one thing for too long. Her long aquamarine hair swishes unbound around her waist. She keeps glancing over her shoulder to make sure Ruby's keeping up, urging her faster with impatient hand gestures.

Ruby's meditation spot is on the outskirts of Homeworld's capital city. When she's not on duty, she purposely stays far from the hustle and bustle of pearl factories and vocational academies for the various castes. She doesn't like the way that all of the lower ranking gems look at her, their expressions baleful and tinged with grimaces of fear.

It's not like Ruby doesn't understand. Corundums are the dogs of the Diamond Authority, after all. They're designed to be as compact and destructive as gemologically possible, and it is often they who are sent on search and destroy missions for defective renegades. Seeing two drastically different corundum models travelling together makes other gems very nervous—if ice and fire are on the prowl, it can only spell certain doom for their prey.

Sapphire doesn't seem to feel the looks. She marches onward without a care. Her chin is held high, and each step is guided by straight shoulders and sure footing. Despite the fact that they are moving closer and closer to the claustrophobic city center, Sapphire never swerves out of the way for other gems. It's obvious that she expects them to do the moving for her—and they do. Ruby only ever has to travel in her wake.

Of course, then a lanky olivine gets in the way.

Sapphire's single eye obviously makes for poor depth perception, so from Ruby's outside perspective it looks very much like Sapphire misjudged where the olivine was, and that's why they bumped into each other. But this is Homeworld's capital city; in the end, details like that really don't matter.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" barks Sapphire irritably.

In a flash, Olivine's legs are trapped in ice. It happens so fast that the green gem doesn't have a chance to brace herself against it, and experiences what Ruby can only describe as whiplash. She doesn't fall, of course—her legs are trapped in ice—but she does look jarred and uncomfortable.

She doesn't lash out against Sapphire, though; she knows better. Despite her poor disposition, the blue gem is still a corundum. Olivines are too smart to parlay with gems of such rank.

"The nerve of some gems," Sapphire grumbles in an undertone. She flicks her light blue hair over her shoulder, entirely unapologetic, already moving on.

Everything about her is untamed. Impulsive. As raw and jagged as icicles.

 _Taking it all instead of taking one bite_

Ruby hates to admit it, but she's intrigued. Sapphire has obviously gone through a lot of effort to get her attention—but why?

"Where are we going?" she asks, jogging tirelessly alongside the slender blue gem as the latter continues plowing through the hastily parting crowds.

That single blue eye flicks to her, and just for a moment Ruby swears she smells frost on the air. "You don't know where we are? I thought this was your territory."

"It is," says Ruby levelly. "But I'm not the one leading the way, am I?"

Sapphire's lips twitch, but she doesn't actually seem to have a proper retort for that.

 _Living with you's just putting me through it all of the time_

Abruptly, Sapphire yanks on Ruby's sleeve and hauls her off to the side so that they are standing at the base of one of the administration towers. Each tower has a different look depending on the class of gem that works there, and this one is square and squat and paneled a very smooth white (if Ruby isn't mistaken, it is populated by calcites that produce and refine the programming for the many quartz models). Mounted on the roof of the tower is a communications hub, glowing and humming as the calcites send out their reinvented and altered data to the various kindergartens.

Because of the somewhat unpredictable nature of their work (one can never anticipate where the next search and destroy mission is going to take you, after all) corundums have no-holds-barred access to all spaces except the private quarters of the Diamond Authority. That being said, it's no surprise that Sapphire can wave her gem in front of the wavelength sensor and be granted immediate entrance into the tower.

Why this particular tower? Why now? Why _Ruby?_

 _I could leave, but I won't go_

Sapphire gives Ruby's sleeve a smart tug just before releasing her. She swishes through the lobby and straight past the nervously quaking calcite behind the desk, clearly aiming for the stairs to the roof. Ruby, a couple of steps behind, gives the calcite a cursory glance—and immediately regrets it. The low Mohs gem squeaks and dives under her desk like she thinks doing so would be enough to save her if she really were the reason two of the Diamond's dogs were here together.

 _It'd be easier, I know_

Ruby does the terrified gem a favor and follows Sapphire up the stairwell. That's right, even if the air around her isn't currently boiling, she's still dangerous—how in the name of gemkind had she managed to forget, even for that one moment?

Probably because Sapphire never appears afraid. But of course she wouldn't be; she's an ice-elemental. Sapphires and rubies are designed to be each other's perfect foils, just in case.

For the first time, Ruby has to wonder if that's what's really going on here.

If that were really the case, though, then what is the point of all the pomp and circumstance? Why bring Ruby close to a structure as valuable as a communication hub? Why not just outright initiate combat the first time she found Ruby on that grassy knoll?

No. Whatever is going on, Sapphire isn't here to put her down. There has to be a piece of the puzzle that Ruby isn't seeing.

"Finally! Took you long enough," is Sapphire's greeting as the door to the stairwell clangs shut behind Ruby.

The next thing Ruby knows, she's being scooped up and—oh, sweet nebulous suns, they're floating upwards.

"What are you doing?" asks Ruby, and of _course_ her voice is tremulous again. A nervous heat is beginning to emanate from her (as if being warm could save her from a very painful introduction to the ground if Sapphire were to drop her right now). Ruby quickly tamps down on her temperature, tries to calm down and breathe deep, but it's a lot harder said than done when you're confronting your deep seated hatred for heights.

Sapphire looks at her, but her expression is oddly enigmatic. "The best view of the sunset is at the top of the tower," she says. "Obviously."

 _I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes_

"The sunset." Ruby keeps her gaze trained on Sapphire's fierce eye and fluffy blue bangs instead of looking down. She tells herself she's doing it to keep herself calm. To keep her sanity, so she won't start boiling. "You mean to tell me you've been harassing me for the last two days so you can show me the sunset."

"Your eyes are always closed, and you're never paying attention."

Conveniently, they're at the top of the communications hub now. Sapphire sets her down softly, and gestures to the horizon with one hand. "Have you ever actually taken the time to look at this?"

Admittedly, no. It's always seemed like a monumental waste of time in conjunction with maintaining tranquility.

Still, Ruby supposes gazing out at the orange-smudged horizon is better than looking down.

Homeworld's sun is large and close, and watching it sink below the curve of the planet is a fairly substantial time commitment, but it's sort of meditative for all of that. The typically red-tinted atmosphere of Homeworld transforms in color as the light leaves it—but only ever gradually. The optics of Ruby's projection aren't damaged by staring at a sun the way a living organic creature's would, so she doesn't look away once.

Maybe Sapphire's right. Maybe she should open her eyes more often.

Sapphire doesn't say anything, but Ruby can feel her fidgeting from here.

She turns her head. "Sapphire, what—"

That's when the other corundum kisses her. It's short lived and strangely gentle, not jagged or aggressive at all.

 _But why does it always seem to be me looking at you, you looking at me_

There is no regret in that bright blue eye, though Ruby does notice the deepened hue of her cheeks.

Frankly, she doesn't know what to make of this ridiculous situation anymore. None of this is _logical_.

"What was _that_ for?" Ruby has to ask.

"You'll figure it out one day."

Ruby raises her eyebrows, skeptical, but when Sapphire only replies with a raised eyebrow and a challenging expression of her own Ruby decides letting the kiss go is the best course of action and doesn't pursue the topic further.

Whatever this is supposed to be, it will pass. All things do.

 _It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all_

Except it doesn't. Sapphire doesn't fade away or disappear with time. There never comes a day where she doesn't seek Ruby out and coax her to open her eyes long enough to at least watch the setting sun.

When Ruby meditates for too long, Sapphire either finds a way to 'accidentally' trap her in ice or simply plops in her lap and starts talking. Loudly. Whenever Ruby isn't being expressive enough, Sapphire either becomes nuclear winter in a cocktail dress or grabs her by the ears and kisses her until she opens up again.

Ruby thinks that she's volatile, but she is quite tame compared to Sapphire's frigid and trigger-happy temper. Ruby thinks she's dangerous, but Sapphire never fails to defuse her before she can explode.

Sapphire commands attention, demands respect, and absolutely refuses to take no for an answer.

And, damn it all, it really grows on Ruby over the years.

 _Truth is I love you more than I wanted to_

 _There's no point in trying to pretend_

"It was always going to come to this," says Sapphire when Ruby finally tells her that. "The day I made a point of finding you, this fate became inevitable."

At this point Ruby is no stranger to Sapphire's augury. "Corundums were never made to pair off like this," she says anyway. "We, specifically, were designed to each be able to put the other down, should she go out of line. What made you so sure this was inevitable?"

Sapphire looks at her, jaw set into a provoked scowl. A chilly, irritated wind kicks up around her. "Isn't it obvious? I saw that we could be together, and I wanted it, so I made it happen."

Honestly, Ruby can't help the way she smiles. It's so like Sapphire, being that blunt. "There's been no one who can make me feel like you do," she says, and at this point in their history it doesn't make sense to be shy about it.

"Of course not." Sapphire grabs one elbow and makes a dismissive gesture with her free hand, but her blue cheeks have darkened with a pleasured flush.

The air around Ruby is cool and calm. She is not boiling and dangerous. She is not afraid.

Ruby holds out her gem-holding hand, presenting the entirety of herself in one simple gesture. "Say we'll be together 'til the end?"

She has to grin at the quick, impulsive kiss that Sapphire presses first to her cheek, and then her lips. There are a lot of futures where Sapphire doesn't see anything good happening, so it's become customary for her to take advantage of the potential for it when she can.

"That's been the plan from the beginning, baby," she murmurs as their fingers thread through one another. A pleasant jolt of electricity zips down Ruby's spine as the facets of their gems clink together. Sapphire's plump lips are pulled into a small, but brilliant smile that Ruby is so glad she opened her eyes for. "Glad you finally figured it out."


End file.
